'The whole senate is on trial' - Senate to SGF

The Senate yesterday said contrary to position of the Federal Government, the trial of Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu was to force a leadership change in the upper chamber.



Committee on Media and PublicityChairman Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, in response to a memo by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir David Lawal, that Saraki and Ekweremadu should not create the impression that the entire Senate is on trial.

Abdullahi, in a statement last night, said the Senate was being targeted to intimidate the legislature and force a leadership change.

Lawal added that only Saraki, Ekweremadu, and two others were being tried for alleged forgery.
Abdullahi in his response said: “We note the statement issued by the Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr. David Babachir Lawal, that the Senate is not the one on trial in the forgery case instituted by the Attorney General of the Federation against the Senate President and his Deputy.

“We disagree with him on this position and we maintain our earlier stand that it is the Senate that is the target of the present attempt to intimidate the legislature to force a leadership change in the Senate.

Mr. Babachir Lawal should tell us how reasonable it is to conclude that when the President of Nigeria and the Vice President are being jointly tried in a suit whose outcome can remove them from office, it is not the Buhari Government that is being targeted.

“It is also imperative to clearly state that contrary to the claim by the SGF, neither the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki nor Senator Ike Ekweremadu was mentioned by the petitioners, the statements by those interviewed by the police or even the police report.

“Meanwhile, let us refresh Mr. Lawal’s memory about the facts of the 1999 case.
“It is obvious that the Senate President and his deputy are not being accused of certificate forgery as it happened in ex-Speaker Salisu Buhari’s case.

“Therefore, nobody should compare an apple with an orange. Also, neither Saraki nor Ekweremadu is below the age requirement for their present positions as it was alleged in the Buhari case.
“Attempts to make the two situations look similar is to present all Nigerians as having no sense of history.

“We also know that nobody can be accused of forging his own signature. The executive is in no position to determine what is the correct Standing Orders of the Senate.

“The Senate President and his deputy were as at the morning of the June 9, 2015 inauguration of the Senate mere senators-elect and could therefore not have been in a position to influence any alteration in the rule book.

“The Senate as an institution, and indeed the National Assembly, has spoken about their understanding of the present assault on their independence by the executive’.

“We maintain that this trial is a design by the Executive to criminalise the internal affairs of the Senate to create a distraction for the leadership of the Senate, force a leadership change and cow the legislators.

“Those behind this plot find this trial more expedient and important than finding tangible solutions to the multi-various socio-economic problems bedeviling the country.

“However, we are sure they will fail in this attempt. We only hope they will allow the judiciary to truly and creditably perform its duties and give independent verdict on the case.”